Method And System For Allocation Of Liquid Product From A Virtual Bottle

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure includes a method of providing a virtual bottle service from an establishment to a user. The virtual bottle service is accessible by the user via an app on a smartphone of a user. The method comprises receiving, via the app on the smartphone of a user, a purchase request for a virtual bottle from an establishment, and after the receiving, allocating the user with a predetermined number of drinks of a particular liquor from the establishment. The method further includes, in response to a drink order from the virtual bottle by the user, decrementing the number of drinks from the virtual bottle that remain available to the user. The method may also include communicating, to the user, the remaining number of drinks via the app on the smartphone. A corresponding system that incorporates and/or uses such a method is also provided.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 63/198,785, filed on Nov. 12, 2020, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for allocatingliquid product from a restaurant or bar that effectively provides theuser with a virtual bottle service without the need for a physicalbottle.

BACKGROUND

Bottle service is the sale of an entire bottle of liquor to a patron ina bar or nightclub. Often, purchasing bottle service includes reservedseating at a preferred location in the establishment. The bottle servicemay even include a dedicated waiter or waitress for the purpose ofmixing and pouring drinks using the liquor from the bottle.Alternatively, the patron's time in the entrance line to theestablishment or the cover charge for the establishment is eliminatedupon agreement by the patron to purchase bottle service. Because of thespecial treatment of the patron who has purchased bottle service, thereis a mark-up for the purchase of the bottle. The mark-up can besubstantial, providing the establishment with a significant profit forsimply allowing the patron to purchase and drink the bottle with his orher friends.

Some of the problems with bottle service relate the physical bottleitself. The bottle is much more likely to get passed around and bespilled when provided to a group of patrons. The bottle is made ofglass, which creates a hazard if it is dropped and broken. Moreimportantly, though the bottle is glass that can be recycled, they oftenare not recycled and typically end up in landfills.

Other problems with bottle service relate to the service aspect. Whilemany patrons may desire the attention of the bottle service, otherswould prefer to blend-in more with their surroundings and not be noticedfor having bottle service. Physical space is often limited inestablishments, resulting in a limit to the number of patrons who canreceive bottle service if a reserved space or table accompanies thebottle service. And when establishments become crowded, it may bedifficult for the patron and his or her friends to travel to thereserved location at which the bottle can be accessed.

A need exists for an alternative way to permit patrons to purchasebottle service that avoids the problems with current bottle service.

SUMMARY

In one implementation, the present invention includes a method ofproviding a virtual bottle service from an establishment by use of anapp on a smartphone of a user. The method comprises purchasing, via theapp on the smartphone, a virtual bottle of a particular liquor from anestablishment, and in response to the purchasing, receiving apredetermined number of e-vouchers corresponding to a predeterminednumber of drinks of the particular liquor. The e-vouchers are accessibleby the user via the app. The method further includes displaying, on adisplay of the smartphone of the user, the number of drinks from thee-vouchers from the establishment that are available to the user, and,in response to a drink order from the virtual bottle by the user,decrementing the number of e-vouchers and displaying the remainingnumber of e-vouchers on the display of the smartphone. The method alsoincludes, in response to the user transferring one of the e-vouchers toa patron of the establishment to provide that patron with theopportunity to order a drink from the virtual bottle, decrementing thenumber of e-vouchers and displaying the remaining number of e-voucherson the display of the smartphone. The present invention alsocontemplates a system that incorporates and/or uses such a method.

In another aspect, the present invention also includes a method ofproviding a virtual bottle service from an establishment to a user. Thevirtual bottle service is accessible by the user via an app on asmartphone of a user. The method comprises receiving, via the app on thesmartphone of a user, a purchase request for a virtual bottle from anestablishment, and after the receiving, allocating the user with apredetermined number of drinks of a particular liquor from theestablishment. The method further includes, in response to a drink orderfrom the virtual bottle by the user, decrementing the number of drinksfrom the virtual bottle that remain available to the user. The methodmay also include communicating, to the user, the remaining number ofdrinks via the app on the smartphone. The present invention alsocontemplates a system that incorporates and/or uses such a method.

In a further aspect, the present invention also contemplates a method ofproviding a virtual bottle service from an establishment by use of anapp on a smartphone of a user. The method comprises purchasing, via theapp on the smartphone, a virtual bottle of a particular liquor from anestablishment. The method also includes, in response to the purchasing,receiving a predetermined number of e-vouchers corresponding to apredetermined number of drinks of the particular liquor, the e-vouchersbeing accessible by the user via the app. The method also includes, inexchange for one of the e-vouchers associated with the app, receiving adrink from the establishment. The present invention also contemplates asystem that incorporates and/or uses such a method.

In another implementation, the present invention is also a system forproviding a virtual bottle of a particular liquor within anestablishment by use of an app on a smartphone. The system includes atangible refillable vat for containing a volume of specific liquorexceeding 1 liter. The refillable vat including a tangible tap fromwhich to pour the specific liquor as a consumable liquid. The systemincludes a host system that communicates with smartphones of patronswithin the establishment. In response to a first patron purchasing avirtual bottle of the specific liquor via the app on the smartphone, thefirst patron is provided with e-vouchers corresponding to apredetermined number of drinks from the virtual bottle. And wherein, inresponse to the first patron ordering a consumable drink via the app,the first patron redeems one of the e-vouchers and the drink is providedto the user after being poured from the tap of the refillable vat.

In a still further implementation a computer-implemented method ofreceiving drink orders from a virtual bottle is disclosed. The methodincludes: storing on a first computing device a virtual bottlerepresenting a predetermined volume of virtual liquid corresponding to afirst volume of a consumable liquid stored in a tangible structure;providing an option on a software application executed on the firstcomputing device to divide the virtual bottle into a correspondingplurality of e-vouchers, each of the plurality of e-voucherscorresponding to a consumable drink including a portion of thepredetermined volume of virtual liquid; receiving from a first userinterface of the software application a request to deduct ato-be-dispensed portion of the virtual liquid from a virtual bottle;receiving by a second computing device a first code provided by thefirst computing device, the first code representing a drink order thatincludes a portion of the first volume of the consumable liquidcorresponding to the to-be-dispensed portion of the virtual liquid;validating the code, and, responsive thereto, deducting theto-be-dispensed portion from the virtual bottle and communicating thedrink order by a point-of-sale (POS) system in an establishment to anelectronic display that displays a representation of the drink order;responsive to the displaying, causing a drink including the portion ofthe first volume of the consumable liquid to be prepared in theestablishment and poured into a tangible drinking vessel for delivery toa user of the first computing device in the establishment.

The method can further include: receiving from the first computingdevice a request to exercise the option to divide the virtual bottleinto the corresponding plurality of e-vouchers, and, responsive thereto,storing on the first computing device a plurality of e-vouchersassociated with the virtual bottle; communicating directly or indirectlyat least one of the plurality of e-vouchers from the first computingdevice to a third computing device; receiving from a third userinterface of a second software application executed on the thirdcomputing device a request to use the at least one of the plurality ofe-vouchers; receiving by the second computing device or a fourthcomputing device a second code provided by the third computing device,the second code representing a second drink order redeemable by the atleast one of the plurality of e-vouchers; validating the second code,and, responsive thereto, removing or disabling the at least onee-voucher from the third computing device, and communicating the seconddrink order to the electronic display that displays the second drinkorder; responsive to displaying the second drink order, causing a seconddrink fulfilling the second drink order to be prepared in theestablishment and a corresponding portion of the first volume of theconsumable liquid to be poured into a second tangible drinking vesselfor delivery to a second user of the third computing device.

The method can further include deducting from a memory of the firstcomputing device a portion from the virtual bottle corresponding to avolume of consumable liquid associated with the at least one e-voucher.

The present invention also includes a graphical user interface that isused in association with the app in accordance with the methods andsystems described below in the specification and/or FIGS. 1-11.

The present invention further includes a graphical user interface thatis used in association with the app to transfer benefits from thevirtual bottle service to another patron in accordance with the methodsand systems described below in the specification and/or FIGS. 1-11.

The present invention further involves a graphical user interface thatis used in association with the app to redeem an e-voucher from thevirtual bottle service for a drink in accordance with the methods andsystems described below in the specification and/or FIGS. 1-11.

In another aspect, the present invention includes a graphical userinterface that is used in association with the app to provide variousbottle-service offers to patrons or potential patrons in accordance withthe methods and systems described below in the specification and/orFIGS. 1-11.

In yet a further aspect, the present invention includes a graphical userinterface that is used in association with the app to order a virtualbottle service in accordance with the methods and systems describedbelow in the specification and/or FIGS. 1-11.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other advantages of the present disclosure will becomeapparent upon reading the following detailed description and uponreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a virtual-bottle system allowing a patron to purchasea virtual bottle of liquor from an establishment by use of an app on thepatron's smartphone.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating the patron using the virtual-bottlesystem to obtain a drink from the virtual bottle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating the patron transferring to anotherpatron the right to use the virtual bottle for a single drink.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustrating the patron transferring to yetanother patron the right to use the virtual bottle.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustrating the patron using the virtual bottleservice to obtain a drink from the virtual bottle in which the pour ofthe liquor is from a refillable vat.

FIG. 6A illustrates a graphical user interface within the app on thesmartphone in which the patron is choosing to redeem a drink from one ofthe virtual bottles available to the patron.

FIG. 6B illustrates a graphical user interface within the app on thesmartphone in which the patron redeems a specific liquor for the drinkafter the process of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 6C illustrates a graphical user interface providing the user with acode to provide to the establishment's point of sale system to validatethe transaction after the process of FIG. 6B.

FIG. 6D illustrates a graphical user interface within the app on thesmartphone after the drink order in FIG. 6C has been completed.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative graphical user interface within theapp on the smartphone in which a code is displayed that permits thepatron to order the drink from the virtual bottle.

FIG. 8 illustrates another graphical user interface within the app onthe smartphone in which the remaining number of drinks from the virtualbottle and the drink history are illustrated.

FIG. 9A illustrates a graphical user interface within the app on thesmartphone in which the patron is provided notice of offers for bottleservice from different establishments.

FIG. 9B illustrates another graphical user interface within the app onthe smartphone in which the patron is provided with offers for varioustypes of bottle service within a specific establishment.

FIG. 10 shows an example system architecture for use with the methodsand systems for allocation of a consumable liquid product from a virtualbottle.

FIG. 11 illustrates a device with a computing unit for use with themethods and systems for allocation of a consumable liquid product from avirtual bottle.

While the present disclosure is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific implementations have been shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will be described in further detail herein.It should be understood, however, that the present disclosure is notintended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, thepresent disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is described with reference to the attachedfigures, where like reference numerals are used throughout the figuresto designate similar or equivalent elements. The figures are not drawnto scale, and are provided merely to illustrate the instant disclosure.Several aspects of the disclosure are described below with reference toexample applications for illustration.

FIG. 1 illustrates virtual-bottle system 10 that includes a central host12 and a point-of-sale (POS) system 14 of an establishment. The centralhost 12 typically includes transceivers to communicate internally withthe POS system 14 and externally to other systems and patrons via theinternet. The central host 12 includes electronic storage (or has accessremote storage) for storing information associated with thevirtual-bottle service, as described below. The POS system 14 includesthe locations within the establishment where patrons are makingpurchases, which includes fixed-payment registers and mobile-paymentregisters carried by a waiter or waitress within the establishment. Thevirtual-bottle system 10 of the establishment also forms a communicationlink 16 (e.g., Bluetooth, Wifi, etc.) to its patrons' smartphones, suchas smartphone 20 of Patron 1, which includes an app 22 to facilitate thecommunications described in detail below. The communication link 16between the patrons' smartphones and the establishment's central host 12may be local and direct, or via the internet. The present inventioncontemplates communications from the patrons' smartphones and theestablishment's central host 12 to commercially available POS systems,such as the Toast® POS system from Toast, Inc. of Boston, Mass. and theRevel® POS system from Revel Systems, Inc. of Atlanta, Ga. Applicationprogramming interfaces (APIs) may be used within the virtual-bottlesystem 10 to permit communication with the various types of POS systems.

As shown in FIG. 1, the Patron 1 has the option of purchasing a virtualbottle of Patrón Silver tequila via the app 22 for $85. After paying forthe purchase of the virtual bottle, the app 22 informs Patron 1 that thepurchase was a success, and Patron 1 is now the owner of a virtualbottle 25 of Patrón Silver tequila that can be redeemed at theestablishment. The virtual bottle 25 is not a physical bottle of PatrónSilver tequila, but is instead the equivalent volume of a standardliquor bottle having a predetermined number of drinks (or pours) forthat particular liquor. For example, as a typical 750 ml physical bottleof hard liquor provides approximately sixteen drinks, the purchase ofthe virtual bottle 25 provides Patron 1 with the ability to obtainsixteen drinks (standard pour is approximately 45-50 ml of consumableliquid from the physical bottle), although different size bottles mayprovide a different predetermined number of drinks. In one preferredembodiment, the predetermined number of drinks from the virtual bottle25 are provided in the form of e-vouchers (i.e., an electronic drinkticket), which are saved in a storage or memory device of (or accessibleby) the smartphone 20 of Patron 1 and also in a storage device of (oraccessible by) within the establishment's central host 12 or POS system14. As such, for a typical 750 ml physical bottle, Patron 1 has sixteene-vouchers that he or she can use for drinks or transfer to otherpatrons, and the establishment monitors the use/transfer of thee-vouchers by Patron 1 and that information is stored locally at thecentral host 12 (or in a remote storage accessible by the central host12). Patron 1 may use all of the e-vouchers in one day or evening at theestablishment. But because it is a virtual bottle 25, the virtual-bottlesystem 10 allows for Patron 1 to redeem drinks of the virtual bottle 25not just on the day of purchase, but on a subsequent visit to theestablishment. This is advantageous to the establishment, as it enticespatron 1 to return at a later date. It should be understood that thepresent invention further contemplates applying an expiration date tothe virtual bottle 25, such that Patron 1 must redeem the entirety ofthe virtual bottle 25 (e.g., sixteen drinks) within a certain period oftime (e.g., one week, or one month).

As used herein, a “virtual bottle” can be represented as a graphicalelement on a graphical user interface of the smartphone 20, andrepresents a predetermined volume (e.g., 750 ml) of “virtual liquid”(i.e., assumes the virtual bottle is “full”), which corresponds to afirst volume (e.g., 750 ml) of a consumable liquid (e.g., an alcoholicspirit) in a tangible structure (e.g., a physical glass or plasticbottle or a physical vat or other container). By contrast, terms likebottle and vat as used herein connote tangible, physical structures inthe real world that hold or contain a liquid that can be consumed by ahuman.

For the establishment to participate in the virtual-bottle system 10,the establishment creates an on-line account associated with the app 22.Once the account is created, the establishment adds the types of virtualbottles 25 that it wants to sell so they become viewable by patrons ontheir smartphones. For example, it may be a set number bottles that theestablishment physically has available for bottle service. Consequently,the establishment's account for the app 22 may act like a digital storeregistry and menu of bottle service for that establishment.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, after purchasing the virtual bottle 25, thePatron 1 can now use the app 22 on the smartphone 20 to obtain a virtualdrink 28 from the virtual bottle 25, which, once the purchase has beenconsummated, will cause a corresponding tangible drink from a tangiblebottle to be poured (and possibly mixed with other consumables) anddelivered as a tangible drink in a tangible structure (e.g., a tangibleglass) to Patron 1. The app 22 may provide for a menu of recommendedmixers for the particular liquor within the virtual bottle 25 anddisplay those mixer options to Patron 1. By providing theestablishment's waitress or waiter with an e-voucher with a valid codeat the POS system 14 (discussed in more detail below in FIGS. 6-7),Patron 1 is not required to transfer any cash. However, the app 22 mayalso permit Patron 1 to provide a gratuity to the waitress or waiter.

The virtual drink 28 corresponds to a to-be-dispensed portion (e.g.,about 45 or 50 ml) from the virtual bottle 25, which when communicatedto the POS system 14 of an establishment, alerts the bartender in theestablishment, by displaying a representation of the drink ordercorresponding to the virtual drink 28, to make a tangible drinkincluding pouring an amount corresponding to the to-be-dispensed portion(e.g., about 45 or 50 ml) of actual liquid from a tangible bottle orvat, as discussed in more detail herein. A human server (or possibly anautomated robotic server) then delivers the consumable drink containedin the physical glass or other drinking vessel to Patron 1 in theestablishment.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate how the virtual bottle 25 can be redeemedthrough the virtual-bottle system 10 by other patrons approved by Patron1. In FIG. 3, Patron 1 has chosen to transfer to Patron 3 the benefit ofthe virtual bottle 25. In a preferred embodiment, Patron 3 also has asmartphone 30 with the app 22, although the present inventioncontemplates allowing Patron 1 to transfer a redeemable voucher toPatron 3 without the need for Patron 3 to have the app 22 on his or hersmartphone 30. Through a communication link (e.g., Bluetooth, Wifi, textlink, etc.) between the smartphone 20 of Patron 1 and the smartphone 30of Patron 3, Patron 1 transfers a single e-voucher (or multiplee-vouchers) to Patron 3. Once the e-voucher is received, Patron 3 canuse the e-voucher to obtain a drink 35 from the virtual bottle 25 thatis owned by Patron 1. As such, the remaining number of e-vouchers forPatron 1 is decremented by one due to the transfer to Patron 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative type of transfer from Patron 1. Here,through a communication link (e.g., Bluetooth, Wifi, text link, etc.)between the smartphone 20 of Patron 1 and a smartphone 40 of Patron 4,Patron 1 has granted full approval for Patron 4 to use the virtualbottle 25 just as Patron 1 is free to use it. The smartphone 40 ofPatron 4 includes the app 22 so as to allow Patron 4 to use thee-vouchers, just at Patron 1 does. In effect, Patron 1 and Patron 4 are“splitting” the virtual bottle 25. The present invention contemplatesthe app 22 provides the ability for Patrons 1 and 4 to split the cost ofthe virtual bottle 25 during the initial purchase (See FIG. 1) or afterthe initial purchase has been completed.

The present invention further contemplates that the app 22 also providesPatron 1 with a list of other patrons in the establishment so thatPatron 1 can more easily locate patrons to whom to transfer the benefitsof the virtual bottle. In such a system, each patron with the app 22 isable to control and limit the amount of available information about thatpatron that is accessible to Patron 1 (and other patrons) via the app22. Further, in one embodiment, all or some of the patrons in anestablishment are informed when another patron purchases a virtualbottle. Again, the app 22 allows the patron to determine whether theinformation about a bottle-service purchase is publicized and/or to whom(i.e., which other patrons) the notification is provided. In otherembodiments, the app 22 may also permit the patron to purchase a virtualbottle 25 for a different patron who is within the same establishment,such that control over the virtual bottle 25 passes to the recipient, asopposed to the purchasing patron. The app 22 may further permit thepatron to purchase a virtual bottle 25 for a person who is not presentat the establishment, such that control over the virtual bottle 25passes to the recipient who may use it at a later time at theestablishment.

FIG. 5 illustrates the virtual-bottle system 10 in use within anestablishment that pours drinks from large vats of alcohol, as opposedto pouring drinks from physical bottles (e.g., which have a volume limitof 750 ml). The establishment may have a plurality of refillable (i.e.,reusable) vats 51, 52, 53, 54. Each of the refillable vats 51, 52, 53,54 is dedicated to a specific liquor, such that it only contains acertain type and brand of liquor. The refillable vats 51, 52, 53, 54 aregenerally much larger than a normal physical bottle, and exceed 1 liter(e.g., 10 liters). In the example of FIG. 5, the refillable vat 54 isdedicated to Patrón Silver tequila, which is the type of virtual bottle25 that has been purchased by Patron 1 in FIG. 1. In exchange for one ofthe e-vouchers associated with the virtual bottle 25, the waiter orwaitress creates a drink 56 for Patron 1 by pouring Patrón Silvertequila from the refillable vat 54.

Consequently, for establishments that choose to move away from physicalbottles for environmental and/or cost reasons, the virtual-bottle system10 is especially beneficial because it still allows patrons to purchasebottle service, albeit through the virtual bottle 25. Furthermore, evenestablishments that still desire to have some physical bottles visibleto the patrons for aesthetics and for identifying available liquors totheir patrons, the virtual-bottle system 10 is advantageous because itallows for pours of liquor from the plurality of refillable vats 51, 52,53, 54, such that the use of the physical bottles of liquor isminimized.

FIGS. 6A-6D illustrate an exemplary series of graphical user interfaceson the display of the smartphone 20 of Patron 1 during the redemptionprocess according to one aspect of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 6A, Patron 1 has purchased three different virtual bottles, suchthat Patron 1 can select from three types of liquor (i.e., Patron 1 hasaccess to three types of e-vouchers corresponding to the three types ofliquor). It may also be that Patron 1 is the recipient of a transferredvirtual bottle from another patron (as described in FIG. 4) or of only atransferred drink from a virtual bottle (as described in FIG. 3) asopposed to purchasing it. In FIG. 6B, Patron 1 has selected, via thegraphical user interface within the app 22, the virtual bottle 25associated with Patrón Silver tequila. After ordering the drink at thePOS system 14 (e.g., the tequila plus some type of mixer), Patron 1confirms redemption of the drink from the virtual bottle 25. The app 22is also beneficial in that it preferable provides Patron 1 with a listof available drinks that can be made with the particular liquor from thevirtual bottle 25.

In FIG. 6C, Patron 1 now receives a drink code (e.g., a numerical codeor an alphanumeric code) for the e-voucher that Patron 1 then passes onto the waiter or waitress to obtain the drink. Because the drink code isstored in a memory at the establishment's central host 12 (or the POSsystem 14) and communicated to the smartphone 20 by use of the app 22,it is easily validated and authenticated by the POS system 14. Thewaiter or waitress may be required to enter the code into the POS system14 or acknowledge its acceptance in the POS system 14 (e.g., activatinga touch key in the POS system 14 displaying the “3018” drink code).After the transaction has been validated (e.g., the e-voucher for thevirtual bottle 25 has its associated drink code entered into the POSsystem 14), the app 22 on the smartphone 20 transitions to a graphicalinterface in which remaining e-vouchers for virtual bottles aredisplayed to Patron 1, as shown in FIG. 6D. It should be understood thata specific drink code can be assigned to each e-voucher of the virtualbottle 25 when the purchase of the virtual bottle 25 takes place. Insuch a system, the e-vouchers stored in the smartphone 20 of Patron 1after purchasing the virtual bottle 25 already include the code that isneeded for redemption. Alternatively, upon an indication of a desire toredeem an e-voucher by Patron 1 (or to transfer an e-voucher to adifferent patron), the virtual-bottle system may generate a specificdrink code that is assigned to the e-voucher.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative graphical user interface for the app22 on the smartphone 20 of Patron 1 during the redemption processaccording to another aspect of the present invention. In thisembodiment, in response to Patron 1 making a specific drink order 72, ascannable code 74 (e.g., bar code, QR code, etc.) appears from the app22 on the display of the smartphone 20. The code 74 can then be scannedat the POS system 14 by the waiter or waitress. The specific drink order72 for Patron 1 is also displayed, in addition to the time the drinkorder was placed.

FIG. 8 illustrates a graphical user interface for the app 22 on thesmartphone 20 of Patron 1 for providing an accounting or inventory ofthe purchased e-vouchers for the virtual bottle 25. The graphical userinterface provides the drink remainder count 82 (i.e., the remaininge-vouchers) along with an itemized history 84 of used e-vouchers. Theitemized history 84 includes a statement of who used each e-voucher andwhen that e-voucher was used. As shown, the total number of e-vouchersare sixteen, of which nine e-vouchers for the virtual bottle 25 remainavailable and seven have been used by Patron 1, Patron 3 (FIG. 3), andPatron 4 (FIG. 4).

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a graphical user interface for the app 22 onthe smartphone 20 of Patron 1 that helps to guide Patron 1 for the bestdeals for bottle service in the area. By virtue of the GPS coordinatesof the smartphone 20 of Patron 1, the app 22 feeds bottle-serviceoptions 92 from different establishments to Patron 1. As shown in FIG.9B, the app 22 allows Patron 1 to choose the desired establishment 94and then browse a menu of optional virtual bottles 96 and the associatedprices. By allowing establishments to provide bottle-service “specials”directly to a variety of potential patrons in an area and to activepatrons already within the establishment, the virtual-bottle system 10permits the establishments to attract more patrons and to sell morevirtual bottles. As such, the virtual-bottle system 10 also permits anestablishment to offer specials for virtual bottles for the certaintypes of liquor that are currently in larger quantities inestablishment's inventory.

FIG. 10 shows an example system architecture 10, 100 to whichembodiments of a method and apparatus for allocation of a consumableliquid product from a virtual bottle, an electronic device and acomputer-readable storage medium of the present disclosure can beapplied. As shown in FIG. 10, the system architecture 100 may includeterminal devices 101, 102, 103 (e.g., smartphones 20, 40 shown in FIG.4), a network 104 and a server 105 (e.g., element 12, 14 shown in FIG.1). The network 104 serves as a medium for providing a communicationlink between the terminal devices 101, 102, 103 and the server 105. Thenetwork 104 can include various types of connections, such as wired orwireless communication links, or optical fiber cables.

A user (e.g., user of smartphone 20, 40, or any of Patrons 2-5 shown inFIG. 1) can use the terminal devices 101, 102, 103 to interact with theserver 105 through the network 104 to receive or send messages, and thelike. Various software applications for implementing informationcommunication between the terminal devices 101, 102, 103 and the server105, such as virtual bottle ordering or point-of-sale (POS)applications, can be installed on the terminal devices 101, 102, 103 andthe server 105.

The terminal devices 101, 102, 103 and the server 105 can be hardware orsoftware or combination of both. When the terminal devices 101, 102, 103are hardware, the terminal devices 101, 102, 103 can be variouselectronic devices having a display screen, including but not limitedto, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop portable computer and adesktop computer; and when the terminal devices 101, 102, 103 aresoftware, the terminal devices 101, 102, 103 may be installed in theelectronic devices, and can be implemented as multiple software piecesor software modules, or as a single software piece or software module,which is not specifically limited herein. When the server 105 ishardware, the server 105 can be implemented as a distributed servercluster composed of multiple servers, or as a single server; and whenthe server 105 is software, the server 105 may be implemented asmultiple software pieces or software modules, or as a single softwarepiece or software module, which is not specifically limited herein.

As shown in FIG. 11, any device 600 disclosed herein (e.g., smartphones20, 40, central host 12, POS 14) can include a computing unit 601, whichcan execute various appropriate actions and processes in accordance witha computer program stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 602 or a computerprogram loaded into a random-access memory (RAM) 603 from a storage unit608. The RAM 603 may alternatively store various programs and datarequired by operations of the device 600. The computing unit 601, theROM 602 and the RAM 603 are connected to each other through a bus 604.An input/output (I/O) interface 605 is also connected to the bus 604.

Multiple components of the device 600 are connected to the I/O interface605, and include: an input unit 606, such as a keyboard and a mouse; anoutput unit 607, such as various types of displays and a speaker; astorage unit 608, such as a magnetic disk and an optical disk; and acommunication unit 609, such as a network card, a modem and a wirelesscommunication transceiver. The communication unit 609 allows the device600 to exchange information or data with other devices through acomputer network, such as the Internet, a local area network, and/orvarious telecommunications networks.

The computing unit 601 can be various general-purpose and/orspecific-purpose processing components having processing and computingcapabilities. Some examples of the computing unit 601 include, but arenot limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processingunit (GPU), various specific artificial intelligence (AI) computingchips, various computing units running machine learning modelalgorithms, a digital signal processor (DSP), and any appropriateprocessor, controller, microcontroller and the like. The computing unit601 performs various methods and processing described above, such as themethod for allocation of liquid product from a virtual bottle. Forexample, in some embodiments, the method for allocating liquid productfrom a virtual bottle can be implemented as a computer software program,which is tangibly included in a machine-readable medium, such as thestorage unit 608. In some embodiments, part or all of the computerprogram may be loaded and/or installed on the device 600 through the ROM602 and/or the communication unit 609. When the computer program isloaded into the RAM 603 and executed by the computing unit 601, one ormore steps of the method for acquiring a traffic state described abovemay be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the computingunit 601 may be configured to perform the method for allocating liquidproduct from a virtual bottle in any other appropriate manner (such asthrough firmware).

The various implementations of the systems and technologies describedherein can be implemented in a digital electronic circuit system, anintegrated circuit system, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an application specificstandard product (ASSP), a system-on-chip (SOC), a complex programmablelogic device (CPLD), computer hardware, firmware, software and/orcombinations thereof. The various implementations can include: beingimplemented in one or more computer programs, where the one or morecomputer programs can be executed and/or interpreted on a programmablesystem including at least one programmable processor, and theprogrammable processor can be a specific-purpose or general-purposeprogrammable processor, which can receive data and instructions from astorage system, at least one input device and at least one outputdevice, and send the data and instructions to the storage system, the atleast one input device and the at least one output device.

Program codes used to implement the methods of the present disclosurecan be written in any combination of one or more programming languages.These program codes can be provided to a processor or controller of ageneral-purpose computer, specific-purpose computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, so that the program codes, whenexecuted by the processor or controller, cause the functions oroperations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to beimplemented. These program codes may be executed entirely on a machine,partly on the machine, partly on the machine as a stand-alone softwarepackage and partly on a remote machine, or entirely on the remotemachine or a server.

In the context of the present disclosure, the machine-readable mediumcan be a tangible medium that may include or store a program for use byor in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus ordevice. The machine-readable medium can be a machine-readable signal(non-transitory) medium or a machine-readable storage medium. Themachine-readable medium can include, but is not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus or device, or any appropriatecombination thereof. A more specific example of the machine-readablestorage medium can include an electronic connection based on one or morelines, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random-access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compactdisk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magneticstorage device, or any appropriate combination thereof.

To provide interaction with a user, the systems and technologiesdescribed herein can be implemented on a computer having: a displaydevice (such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display)monitor) for displaying information to the user; and a keyboard ortouch-sensitive substrate and a pointing device (such as a mouse or atrackball) through which the user may provide input to the computer.Other types of devices may also be used to provide interaction with theuser. For example, the feedback provided to the user may be any form ofsensory feedback (such as visual feedback, auditory feedback or tactilefeedback); and input from the user may be received in any form,including acoustic input, speech input or tactile input.

The systems and technologies described herein can be implemented in: acomputing system including a background component (such as a dataserver), or a computing system including a middleware component (such asan application server), or a computing system including a front-endcomponent (such as a user computer having a graphical user interface ora web browser through which the user may interact with theimplementations of the systems and technologies described herein), or acomputing system including any combination of such background component,middleware component or front-end component. The components of thesystems may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital datacommunication (such as a communication network). Examples of thecommunication network include a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), and the Internet.

A computer system may include a client and a server. The client and theserver are generally remote from each other, and generally interact witheach other through the communication network. A relationship between theclient and the server is generated by computer programs running on acorresponding computer and having a client-server relationship with eachother. The server may be a cloud server, also known as a cloud computingserver or a cloud host, which is a host product in a cloud computingservice system and may solve the defects of difficult management andweak service scalability existing in a conventional physical host and aVPS (Virtual Private Server) service. The server may alternatively be aserver of a distributed system, or a server combined with a blockchain.

In addition to the electronic device, any device herein can include acommunication component and the like. The electronic device may beintegrated with the communication component, or the electronic deviceand the communication component may be provided separately. Theelectronic device may acquire data (such as a picture and a video) froma sensing device (such as a camera), to perform image and videoprocessing and data calculation. Alternatively, the electronic deviceitself, such as an AI camera, may alternatively have a sensing dataacquisition function and a communication function, and the electronicdevice may directly perform image and video processing and datacalculation based on acquired sensing data.

A cloud control platform performs processing in the cloud. Theelectronic device included in the cloud control platform may acquiredata (such as a picture and a video) from a sensing device (such as acamera), to perform image and video processing and data calculation; andthe cloud control platform may alternatively be called an edge computingplatform, a cloud computing platform, a central system, a cloud serverand the like.

It should be appreciated that the steps of reordering, adding ordeleting may be executed using the various forms shown above. Forexample, the steps described in the present disclosure may be executedin parallel or sequentially or in a different order, so long as theexpected results of the technical schemas provided in the presentdisclosure may be realized, and no limitation is imposed herein.

One or more elements or aspects or steps, or any portion(s) thereof,from one or more of any of claims 1-33 below can be combined with one ormore elements or aspects or steps, or any portion(s) thereof, from oneor more of any of the other claims 1-33 combinations thereof, to formone or more additional implementations and/or claims of the presentdisclosure.

While various examples of the present disclosure have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample only, and not limitation. Numerous changes to the disclosedexamples can be made in accordance with the disclosure herein withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the breadthand scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of theabove described examples. Rather, the scope of the disclosure should bedefined in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Although the disclosure has been illustrated and described with respectto one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modificationswill occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading andunderstanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Inaddition, while a particular feature of the disclosure may have beendisclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, suchfeature may be combined with one or more other features of the otherimplementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given orparticular application.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexamples only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including,”“includes,” “having,” “has,” “with,” or variants thereof, are used ineither the detailed description and/or the claims, such terms areintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.Furthermore, terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries,should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with theirmeaning in the context of the relevant art, and will not be interpretedin an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so definedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing a virtual bottle servicefrom an establishment by use of an app on a smartphone of a user,comprising: purchasing, via the app on the smartphone, a virtual bottleof a particular liquor from an establishment; in response to thepurchasing, receiving a predetermined number of e-vouchers correspondingto a predetermined number of drinks of the particular liquor, thee-vouchers being accessible by the user via the app; displaying, on adisplay of the smartphone of the user, the number of drinks of thee-vouchers from the establishment that are available to the user; inresponse to a drink order from the virtual bottle by the user,decrementing the number of e-vouchers and displaying the remainingnumber of e-vouchers on the display of the smartphone; and in responseto the user transferring one of the e-vouchers to a patron of theestablishment to provide the patron with the opportunity to order adrink from the virtual bottle, decrementing the number of e-vouchers anddisplaying the remaining number of e-vouchers on the display of thesmartphone.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual bottlecorresponds to a 750 ml bottle of liquor and the predetermined number ofdrinks is sixteen.
 3. The method of claim 1, further including (i)transmitting, via the app, the drink order from the user to theestablishment, and (ii) exchanging one of the e-vouchers for the drinkorder by use of a code from the app of the user's smartphone.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the code from the app of the user'ssmartphone is a scannable image that the establishment scans.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the e-vouchers are stored in a memory on theuser's smartphone.
 6. The method of claim 1, further including,displaying on the display of the smartphone, a plurality of bottleservice offers from a plurality of establishments in the vicinity of thesmartphone.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the plurality ofestablishments is determined based on the GPS coordinates of thesmartphone.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring of one ofthe e-vouchers to the second patron is accomplished through acommunication link between the smartphone of the user and a smartphoneof the second patron, the communication link being a WiFi link or aBluetooth link.
 9. A method of providing a virtual bottle service froman establishment to a user, the virtual bottle service being accessibleby the user via an app on a smartphone of a user, comprising: receiving,via the app on the smartphone of a user, a purchase request for avirtual bottle from an establishment; after the receiving, allocatingthe user with a predetermined number of drinks of a particular liquorfrom the establishment; in response to a drink order from the virtualbottle by the user, decrementing the number of drinks from the virtualbottle that remain available to the user; and communicating, to theuser, the remaining number of drinks via the app on the smartphone. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein the allocating includes providing theuser with e-vouchers that can be exchanged for the drinks from thevirtual bottle service.
 11. The method of claim 10, further including,in response to a drink order from the virtual bottle by the user,receiving a code associated with the e-voucher from the user.
 12. Themethod of claim 10, wherein, in response to the user transferring one ofthe e-vouchers to a patron of the establishment to provide the patronwith the opportunity to order a drink from the virtual bottle,decrementing the remaining number of drinks.
 13. The method of claim 9,wherein the communicating is from a central host or point-of-sale systemof the establishment to the smartphone of the user.
 14. The method ofclaim 9, further including, storing the remaining number of drinks in amemory accessible by the central host.
 15. The method of claim 9,wherein the establishment provides virtual-bottle service offers to theuser in response to the GPS coordinates of the smartphone of the userbeing within a certain distance of the establishment.
 16. The method ofclaim 9, further including providing the user with a list of otherpatrons who are present at the establishment.
 17. The method of claim16, further including allowing the user to establish a link with one ofthe other patrons to provide access to the virtual bottle.
 18. Acomputer-implemented method of receiving drink orders from a virtualbottle, the method comprising: storing on a first computing device avirtual bottle representing a predetermined volume of virtual liquidcorresponding to a first volume of a consumable liquid stored in atangible structure; providing an option on a software applicationexecuted on the first computing device to divide the virtual bottle intoa corresponding plurality of e-vouchers, each of the plurality ofe-vouchers corresponding to a consumable drink including a portion ofthe predetermined volume of virtual liquid; receiving from a first userinterface of the software application a request to deduct ato-be-dispensed portion of the virtual liquid from a virtual bottle;receiving by a second computing device a first code provided by thefirst computing device, the first code representing a drink order thatincludes a portion of the first volume of the consumable liquidcorresponding to the to-be-dispensed portion of the virtual liquid;validating the code, and, responsive thereto, deducting theto-be-dispensed portion from the virtual bottle and communicating thedrink order by a point-of-sale (POS) system in an establishment to anelectronic display that displays a representation of the drink order;and responsive to the validating, causing a drink including the portionof the first volume of the consumable liquid to be prepared in theestablishment and poured into a tangible drinking vessel for delivery toa user of the first computing device in the establishment.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, further comprising: receiving from the firstcomputing device a request to exercise the option to divide the virtualbottle into the corresponding plurality of e-vouchers, and, responsivethereto, storing on the first computing device a plurality of e-vouchersassociated with the virtual bottle; communicating directly or indirectlyat least one of the plurality of e-vouchers from the first computingdevice to a third computing device; receiving from a third userinterface of a second software application executed on the thirdcomputing device a request to use the at least one of the plurality ofe-vouchers; receiving by the second computing device or a fourthcomputing device a second code provided by the third computing device,the second code representing a second drink order redeemable by the atleast one of the plurality of e-vouchers; validating the second code,and, responsive thereto, removing or disabling the at least onee-voucher from the third computing device, and communicating the seconddrink order to the electronic display that displays the second drinkorder; responsive to displaying the second drink order, causing a seconddrink fulfilling the second drink order to be prepared in theestablishment and a corresponding portion of the first volume of theconsumable liquid to be poured into a second tangible drinking vesselfor delivery to a second user of the third computing device.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, further comprising deducting from a memory of thefirst computing device a portion from the virtual bottle correspondingto a volume of consumable liquid associated with the at least onee-voucher.